A toddler has a limited number of experiences in life to draw from. As I was praying how to write about love and fear, an email arrived in my inbox from a dear friend. I could not have written it better. She has given me permission to share her notes anonymously.
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Faith like a child. She knows she is loved and she is fearless.
Perfect Love Casts Out Fear
My nephew’s daughter, Sarah, not yet two-years old, lives and breathes something I dream of possessing and gives me greater hope that I still can!
While visiting last month, I had the gift of spending a few days with Sarah and her mother. (My nephew was traveling for work.) As I was sitting by the coffee table Sarah was on top of, all of sudden she jumped toward me, totally expecting me to catch her. Then she made a game of doing that with me and with her Mom.
The next day at the park, she choose the most difficult way to get up on the playground equipment platform, the way intended for 8 year olds, not toddlers. So I held on to her as she climbed up onto the platform that was higher than I am tall. Later, she wanted to come down the way she went up. My heart beat a bit faster as she leaned toward me so I could help her down. Thankfully, she is a good judge of just how much others are able to be there for her.
Casting Our Cares
All of this got me thinking: Sarah knows she can cast herself on me because she knows I love her, that I am connected with her parents who have demonstrated a constant love for her, even while they have been dealing with some unexpected and challenging circumstances. So I did a word search on casting.
Peter wrote of “Casting all your anxieties on Him because He cares for you.” (I Peter 5:7) In a great passage about love and abiding, John declared: “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. We love because He first loved us.” I John 4:18-19.
Sarah demonstrated this so beautifully. To varying degrees, I think it is safe to say we are all dealing with unexpected and challenging circumstance in this season. May we all know that the Father loves us with a constancy that enables us to keep casting our concerns and anxieties into His loving hands.
If you are like me, Andrea, we probably all have some cares that are holding us back. Take a moment to cast these cares on the Lord. Then join me in this “toddler prayer.”
Abba, I need you. The things I am afraid of are weighing me down and keeping me from trusting you. I want to be fearless. I choose to trust you like a well loved toddler. Thank you for knowing what that means better than I do, and answering in ways I can recognize. Amen
